Easel.



No. 735,346. PATENTBD AUG. 4, 190s.

P.P.DEAN.

BASEL.

` APPLICATION FILED 00T. 28. 1901.

F0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SEEE 1.

PATENTED 111111.11, 1903.v

F. P..DEAN.

BASEL. APPLIGATION Hum 00128, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

/lv V5 TOR;

FRANKLIN PDU:v

I Tram/frs.

UNITED. STATES latented August 1901i.

PATENT OFFICE.`

FRANKLIN P. DEAN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AsSIGNoR or ONE-HALFTO oLAUs o. woLD, oF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. w

EAsEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent-Bio.` 735,346, dated August-f4, 1903.

Application filed October 28, 1901.. Serial No. 80,249. (No model.)

To all `whom t may concern.- Be it knownthat I, FRANKLIN P. DEAN, av citizen ofthe United States, residing at Ghicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Easels, (Case No. 1,) of which the following is afull,clear, concise, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this speciiication. t My invention relates to Veasels7 and has for its object Athe provision of several improvements in easels whereby they may be better adapted for artists use than those hitherto constructed and whereby they may be` especially adapted for use in groups, so that the easels may be adapted tovarious directions 'of light suited to the individual tastes of the artists. By means of my invention, however, there is also produced an easel which possesses many points of advantage in its individual Characteristics. f

I will explain my invention by referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the easel. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line a a of Fig. 2.4 Fig. a is a side view of the easel modified into a table. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the easel-board with its appurtenances. Fig. 6 is a rear View of the structure illustrated in Fig; 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line b b of Fig. 6. Fig..8 is a side elevation of a shoe entering into the preferred construction of canvas or paper clamping means. Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of one of the screws that may be employed either for pivotally supporting the easel-board or for enabling the use of the said board as a table-top. Fig. lO is an elevation of a wingscrew that may serve as'a pivotal mounting for the entire easel structure. Fig. 1l is a plan view of a threaded washer with which the pivot-bolt of Fig.` lO may have threaded engagement. Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation of the threaded washer shown in Fig. ll.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the different iigures.

The body portion l of the easel structure is preferably of the construction illustrated, being Slightly sloped at its upper portion 2 and Vsuitable devices passing through apertures provided therein. This is the preferredmechanism for pivotally mounting the easel,tho`ugh it is obvious that many mechanical structures may be employed for carrying out this feature of the invention. The body portion of the easel is thus s-ubstantially upright, being in this respect far distinct from the usual form of tripod-easels- Y In order that the easel-board l may, notwithstanding the upright nature of its support, occupy desired oblique positions, I

mount the same to be swung about pivots, such as indicated at 6. In order that the vertical position of the easel-board may also be -readily adjusted, I prefer to mount the board upon a support 7, which itself is directly pivf oted upon the easel-body and aifords a sliding connection between this support or frame 7 and the easelboard. There isthus provided the very useful combination of an easel supporting body which itself is practically vertical with an easelboard that may be also adj usted to a position that is practically vertical or which may be swung away from the easel-support to any suitable angle and a peculiar mounting for the easel-board that enables it to be adj usted to a suitable vertical position. The pivotal screws 6 pass through the upper ends of the frame or support 7 and the corresponding side boards of the body l.

In order that the frame 7, withithe easelboard `carried thereby, may be fixed in the desired angular adjustment, I provide the said support with slotted links 8, that are pivoted to the side margins thereof, clampingscrews 9 passing through the sides of the body l and the slots in the said links, the heads of the clamping-screws having engagement with the links for the purpose of securing the desired angular adjustment of the board.

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n se

. to the rear of the screws 9.

table.

forward from its point of anchorage.

In order that the easel-board may be moved up and down Without the necessity of having its position manually fixed upon each adjustment, I engage a threaded bolt or rod 10 with the easel-board and interpose a friction plate or strip 11 between a spring 12 and the side rails of the frame that supports the easelboard. Inv order that the easel-board may be guided in its movement upon the supportingframe, I provide the said board with-plates 7, that engage the inner faces of the side members of the said frame. The spring 12 is preferably engaged with the rod 10 by means of a threaded sleeve-nut 13, the spring being preferably a leaf-spring, so as to secure a more distributed application of pressure to the clamping plate or strip 11. In order that the clamping-strip may not be rotated about the bolt 10, I provide guiding-pins 14, that are secured to the easel-board and which pass through the apertures provided in the clamping plate or strip 1l. This means for providing a sliding connection between the easelboard and its support while especially useful where such support is rotatably mounted is also considered to be new by me, irrespective of the swinging adjustment of the easelboard.

In order that the paper or other object that is to be fastened upon the board may be readily and quickly placed in position, I provide an improved clamping device in the form of a rod 15, that extends transversely across the easel-board and-which is adapted for longitudinal movement with respect thereto by means of shoes 16 16, supporting the clamping-rod, which shoes move in marginal slots 17. I prefer to employ but one clamping-rod 15, that may engage the upper portion of the inserted paper, the lower edge of the paper being tucked in a pocket 18, formed by a grooved portion of the board and a projecting ledge 19 of metal. To secure yielding clamping engagement, the ends of the rod 15 are preferably turned at right angles and are threaded to be engaged by nuts 20, thesenuts engaging the springs 2l, that are interposed between the same and the shoes 16. As the turned ends of the clamping-rod are adapted for free passage through the shoes, the springs yieldingly maintain the middle section of the rod against the easel-board.

I will now refer to that feature of the structure whereby the easel is convertible into a For this purpose the pivot-pins 6 are removable, so that they may be placed within holes 22, where the inner end of the support or frame 7 is mounted, these holes 22 being I The screws 9 are provided with elongated heads, as indicated mostv clearly in Fig. 9, that may be disposed betweenthe'siderpanels of the easel-body, so as to engage aportion of the framev 7 slightly The easel-board is then adjusted to a horizontal position, (illustrated in Fig/1,) the nuts 9 having been previously removed from the screws 9, so as to permit the links S being freed, the said screws being then temporarily withd rawn for this purpose.

The peculiar construction illustrated enables me to provide a drawer 23 for containing artists materials. m

Having thus fully set forth my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with an easel-body, of a board, a support for the board, a rod l0 projecting rearwardly from the board, a clamping-strip 11 engaging the support of the board, and a spring 12 having engagement with the rod and strip, substantially as described.

The combination with an easel-body, of a board, a support for the board, a rod l0 projecting rearwardly from the board, a clamping-strip 11 engaging the support of the board, a spring 12 having engagement with the rod and strip, and a pin 14 for preventing rotation of the strip upon the rod, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an easel-board, of arod 15 extending across the same and turned at its ends, sliding shoes 16, 16 through which the turned ends of the rod freely pass, nuts 20, 20 provided upon the ends of the rod, and

-springs interposed between the said nuts and shoes, substantially as described.

l. In an easel, the combination with an easel-body, of a board having swinging connection with said body, removable fastening means 6 for affording said swinging engagement, a slotted link S interposed between the board and the body, and screws 9 for securing said link to the body vto permit of angular adjustment of the board, the body being provided with means 22 at the rear of the screws 9 for engaging the upper end of the board when the board is to be placed horizontal, the fastening-screws 9 projecting inwardly to engage the side margins of the board and by being located in front of the means 22 serving to support the board in a horizontal position, substantially as described. y

y 5. In an easel, the combination with an easel-body, of a board having at its upper end swinging connection with said body, means permitting sepa-ration ofthe upper end of the board from the body when the board is to be lowered and means for supporting the board at a position below its point of swinging connection and supporting the same in a substantially horizontal position, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this '22d day of October, A. D. 1901.

FRANKLIN P. DEAN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE L. CRAGG, MAX W. J ABEL.

IIO 

